If Magic Exists
by Uniko-Starre
Summary: In a different time line, Mami and Charlotte actually had a brief friendship that, like everything in a Puella Magi's life, ended in tragedy...


This witch was going to be a tough one—it had only just been born, but it was already driving what sounded like half the hospital to their deaths, if the mortified screams of terror coming from within the hospital walls were any indication.

Mami was furious with herself—she'd passed the witch as a grief seed earlier in the day, and had originally intended to stick around and wait until the moment the witch was born to kill it, but while she was waiting, her soul gem had indicated another presence. That presence had turned out to be a familiar just a few blocks away, which Mami had promptly destroyed, but in the few hours she was gone the witch had spawned and was already killing.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Mami gripped her soul gem, allowed the familiar warmth to spread through her veins, her bones, her entire body, and transformed. Magic coursing through her, it was easy to kick down the heavy glass doors. Zombie-like, possessed patients lunged themselves at Mami as she calmly walked in, but were repelled by an invisible barrier. Throwing up a barrier like that took more magic, but Mami knew that it was necessary in this situation—these patients were all frail and sick, but they could still hurt her with the rage that the witch used to drive them. However, they could easily hurt themselves in the process, and if Mami fought back at all it would be a sure death sentence for them.

The witch's layer was in the center of the room—a gutsy place for a witch to hide. Normally, witches operated in the shadows, where few people ever ventured. The witch was either very powerful or just arrogant to bring its layer there.

As the fabric of reality wavered around her, the witch's labyrinth appeared. Upon first glance, everything seemed almost normal—this could be the interior of a nice hotel, with ivory curtains framing the windows and burgundy cushions covering the sofas. It took a moment to notice the macabre details that made it a witches layer—the wallpaper was warped and the design was dripping, the ivory curtains were frayed and covered in blood at the edges, the windows showed only pure darkness outside, and the cushions on the sofa failed to conceal a pale, limp hand that hung from the corpse they were hiding. Despite having been in hundreds of labyrinths before just like this one, the whole scene was enough to make Mami's blood run cold.

Mami was so wrapped up in examining the details of the lair that she almost tripped over the girl in front of her. Her pale, frail body, just barely covered by a worn hospital gown, was curled up into a ball, and she was shaking violently. Her stringy pink hair covered her face.

"Are you okay?" Mami asked, kneeling to the girl's side. The girl turned her head just the slightest bit, peeking out with scared blue eyes. Looking at her face, Mami realized that the girl was older than she thought. Her small size had pointed to maybe six or seven, but her face was a bit more mature—she was only a little younger than Mami, maybe 10 or 11.

"Am I dead? Are we in hell?" the girl whimpered.

Mami smiled gently and shook her head. The poor girl was scared senseless. "No, you're alive. It'll be okay, soon."

"Oh." The girl muttered, turning her head back away from Mami. "Thank goodness…"

"You don't sound very happy to hear that."

"I… I'm not supposed to have much longer anyhow. The doctors just told me this morning that I only have a week at best. I know I'm not supposed to think like this, but sometimes… I just want to get it over with…"

Mami's heart sank. The poor girl looked so pathetic, huddled up on the ground and awaiting death. She gently placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's okay. Listen, I have to go take care of something, but after that, I'm going to talk to somebody. If you're willing to pay the price, he might be able to help you be healthy again."

The girl immediately turned back to Mami, her eyes instantly lightening with hope. "You would do that?"

"Absolutely," Mami said, standing back up, "but first, I have something I have to take care of—"

A loud, anguished roar cut Mami off, and suddenly she and the girl were both transported to a sort of lobby where macabre bellhops roamed the ceilings and walls and, in the middle of everything, a shadow of a monster with a spiked crown lounged on the bodies of thousands. The witch must have sensed the two.

"W-we have to get away! That monster is going to kill us!" the girl cried as the shadow rose up, blood dripping from its razor fangs.

"Stay here," Mami said calmly, gesturing backwards. Her soul gem glowed as a cage appeared around the girl, protecting her from the numerous familiars flinging themselves at her. "I'll take care of this."

With that, Mami launched off into battle, the familiar rhythm of the fight coursing through her blood as she jumped and dodged, using gun after gun to fend off the familiars and the attacks of the witch. Finally, Mami had a clear shot of her target. "Tiro finale!" she shouted as shot her impossibly huge gun. The shot landed its mark—the huge crown sitting atop the monster's head—and almost instantaneously the witch's world disintegrated around her. It was as Mami had thought—the crown had been the actual witch.

They were outside now, beside the hospital. It was quiet, so much quieter than it had been in the witch's layer—almost an eerie sort of silence.

Mami turned to the girl, only to spot her crumpled on the ground in an unnatural sort of way. Her heart sank as she rushed to the girls side, shaking her arm gently. "Hey… hey! Are you awake?"

The girl quietly moaned in response. Maybe it had been the stress of the witch's environment, or maybe one of the familiars had gotten her when Mami wasn't looking, but something had badly hurt the already frail girl and she was fading fast.

"Kyubey!" Mami cried.

As if on command, a white fox-like creature slinked out of the shadows, calmly walking to Mami's side. "You called, Mami?" he said, matter-of-factly as usual.

"Kyubey, you have to save this girl!" Mami cried, clutching her hand. It was growing colder, and her breathing more ragged.

Kyubey shook his head. "That's impossible."

"What are you talking about?" cried Mami, "You can't just leave her, Kyubey! That's too terrible!"

"I can only help young girls with a strong enough will to sacrifice everything for their wish. This girl doesn't have anything she wants strongly enough to make the contract, is that not correct?"

Tears streaming down her face, Mami glanced at the girl's face. Her eyes were tired and sad. "Is that true? Not even for your life?" Mami cried.

The girl smiled wryly. "I don't want to live anymore. All I want is to go to sleep forever, and not have to wake up because everything hurts, or to be told that I'm not doing any better. That's really all I want…"

"And only death can give that," remarked Kyubey, stepping to her side. "It's too bad—just earlier today I was considering approaching her. But it looks like she's already lost the will to live, so I can't give her what she wants."

The girl shuddered, her breaths becoming more ragged and short with each passing second. "Mami, was it…? Thanks so much… for trying to save me. I'm glad I at least got to see you fight before I died. Who knows… if magic exists, maybe I really can go to Heaven…?"

She sputtered out a final breath as her eyes became completely empty, and her tiny body limp in Mami's hands.

"No… don't go…" Mami sobbed, hugging the girl's body. How could it be that this girl, who apparently had enough will to live just earlier that day to become a Puella Magi, be dead already? It wasn't right. It was just too cruel…

But Mami's sobbing was put to rest as she lay the girl down and took a look at her face. It was smudged with dirt, gaunt and pale with sickness, and her eyes were open and empty, but she had a faint smile on her face—the same smile Mami had when she realized that, thanks to the power of Kyubey's magic, she could live again.

* * *

This witch was going to be too easy. With Madoka's encouragement, the mouse-like familiars had been a breeze to destroy as they launched themselves at Mami one by one, and thus far the witch herself hadn't been anymore challenging. She was a mere rag doll, and didn't even fight back as Mami shot it off her throne and on the floor. When Kyubey had told her that a witch was near the hospital and that Sayaka was caught in it's layer, Mami had run over as fast as she could, but she was wondering if it was even necessary at this rate. You hardly needed magical powers to destroy a doll.

The fight was almost over—Mami had the witch in her grasp above her, and had a clear shot to perform her final attack. As usual, her gun appeared, Mami aimed, and she fired with ease—"Tiro finale!"

The bullet hit easily, of course.

"You did it!" Madoka cheered from the sidelines, watching the battle with glee.

Mami glanced over and flashed a smile, relishing her victory. The witch was dead; this battle was over.

She was so confident she had won, she didn't even notice Madoka's growing look of horror.

"Mami, look out!" cried Sayaka.

Mami turned around just in time to see a worm-like monster facing her, it's razor-sharp fangs dripping with saliva and it's eyes crazed with bloodlust. "No…" Mami muttered as the monster grew closer as she stood frozen in fear, "No… not now…"

Madoka and Sayaka's screams grew muffled as the monster's mouth closed around her head, but she didn't even feel its teeth close around her neck.

The last thing Mami heard was a voice, distantly echoing in her head—"If magic exists, maybe I really can go to heaven?"

* * *

Sure enough, after the chaos of a lost battle, Mami awoke in another world, tranquil and beautiful in its peace. There, she saw a long-lost friend, a face she only remembered as if it were a dream.

"I've been waiting for you," the girl said, "I didn't want to leave without you. After all, it is my fault you're here."

Mami took the girl's extended hand. "Why would I be mad at you for bringing me to such a peaceful place?"

The girl smiled—a satisfied, half-smile that one can only have after their deepest wish is fulfilled—and led Mami beyond, to another world where they could finally rest in peace.


End file.
